Stopping mechanism for twine-balling machines



(N Modem 2. Sheets-Sheet 1.-

J. ASPINALL.

STOPPING MECHANISM FOR TWINE BALLING MACHINES.

No. 454,991. Patelited June 30, 1891 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. ASPINA'LL.

STOPPING MECHANISM FOR TWINE BALLING MACHINES.

Patented June 30, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES ASPINALL, OF PLYMQUTH, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES F. BROlVNAND ARTHUR IV. CROSSLEY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

STOPPING MECHANISM FOR TWlNE-BALLING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming-part of Letters Patent No. 454,991, dated June 30,1891.

Application filed March 16, 1891.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES ASPINALL, of Plymouth, in the county ofPlymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Stopping Mechanisms for Twine-Balling Machines,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to twine-balling machines of the kind shown anddescribed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 262,412, datedAugust 8, 1882; and it has for its ob- 3ect to provide improvedattachments for a machine of this class, whereby the belt-ship per ofsaid machine will be automatically caused to shift the driving-belt fromthe fast to the loose pulley on the driving-shaft, thus stopping theoperation of the machine whenever the ball of twine reaches a certainpredetermined size.

The invention also has for its object to provide improved means wherebythe said beltshipper will be similarly operated in case of the breakingof the twine during the winding of a ball, the operation of this devicebeing also automatic.

The invention consists in the improvements ihich I will now proceed todescribe and c aim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a,

part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of asmuch of the frontportion of a twine-balling machine of the kind abovenamed as I have deemed necessary to show in order to illustrate myinvention. Fig. 2 represents a top plan View of the parts shown inFig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a front View of the same, the swinging headcarrying the ball spindle being removed in order to show more clearlythe parts behind the same. Fig. 4 represents a side elevation, on alarger scale, of one of the fly-arms, which fly-arm is also shown inside elevation in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 represents a section on the line 5 5,Fig. 4.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all thefigures.

In the drawings, a a represent portions of the frame of the machine, and0' represents one of the cross-pieces of the same, in which are bearingsg g for the hollow winding-spin- Serial No. 385,197- (No model.)

dle h. Said spindle is provided with a pulloy h", over which a beltpasses, said belt passing over another pulley on the main shaft of themachine. (Not shown.) The said main shaft has a fast and a loose pulleyat its rear end, on one of which a belt connected with the powergivingshaft is adapted to run. The belt-shipper f is adapted to move thelast-mentioned belt from the fast pulley to the loose one, or viceversa, and said shipper is operated by the lever f", which is pivoted tothe frame of the machine. The front end of the winding-spindle h isprovided with the fly-head h, from which the fly-arms 2' project, theabove-described construction being that shown in Patent No. 262,412,before mentioned.

n n are two arms affixed to the frame of the machine, which support theswinging head Z, carrying the ball-spindle m, on which the twine iswound to form a ball, the arms Z Z of said head being hinged or pivotedto the end of the arms n n. Said spindle m is r0 tated by the gearingdriven by the shaft p in the manner shown and described in the patentalready referred to, and the plate-cam F said patent. ball-spindle m torotate, has a backward and forward sliding motion, said shaft being inits farthest forward position when the machine is first started to makethe ball, and slides slowly backward, carrying the head Z with it astheball increases in size, the platecam F regulating this movement, andwhen the ball is almost of the size required and ready for its finishingwindings the cam F permits a sudden drop or backward slide of the shaft1), thus bringing the spindle m to its least inclination or the positionin which it is nearest the perpendicular, all as described I in saidPatent N 0. 262,412. The armnon the side of the machine at which theoperating.- lever f of the belt-shipper is located is provided with acatch f, with which the said le- Ver is adapted tobe engaged when theshipper is holding the belt on the fast pulley and the machine isoperating.

f represents a spring attached to the on the swinging head co-operateswith the fixed roller G in the manner also described in The shaft 13,which causes the frame of the machine and to the lever f, said springoperating to move the lever, so as to cause the belt-shipper to shiftthe belt from the fast to the loose pulley, so that when the lever f ismoved to set the machine in operation it is moved against the stress ofsaid In carrying out m yinvention I provide the shaft 19 with a tooth orprojection p. WVhen the final drop of said shaft occurs, bringing thespindle m and ball thereon into position for the latter to receive itsfinal end windings, said tooth 9 comes into gear with a ratchet-gear q,affixed to the frame of the machine. The said gearq is provided with apin q on its front surface. As the shaft rotates, the tooth p thereoncomesin contact with the teeth on the gear q successively, thus rotatingsaid gear slightly at each rotation of the shaft 1). \Vhen the gear ghas been partially rotated, as described, a given number of times, thepin q, thereon will strike one end 1" of a bell-crank lever pivoted to afixed support on the frame of the machine and will force the sameupwardly, causing the other end 1' of said bell-crank lever to press thelever f of the belt-shipper out from the catch. f on the arm n, withwhich it is engaged, thus allowing it to be moved by the springf' toshift the belt from the fast to the loose pulley, thus stopping theoperation of the machine.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the machine will beautomatically stopped when the ball has reached the required size. Thenumber of the end windings given the ball may be determined by thenumber of teeth given to the gear q. The shaft 1) by its tooth 1) causessaid gear to rotate the space of one of its teeth at every rotation ofsaid shaft, so that the shaft 17 rotates as many times as there arepartial rotations of the gear q re quired to bring the pin qin contactwith the end 0' of the bell-crank lever, as will be readily seen. Itwill also be obvious that the gear q may be set so that it will requirealmost one complete rotation of said gear to bring its pin qin contactwith the bell-crank lever, or said gear may be set so that only arotation of the space of afew of its teeth will be required to bringabout said contact.

My invention also comprises means for antomatically stopping theoperation of the machine in case the twine should break during thewinding process, and to this end I provide one of the fly-arms i withthe attachment next described, the same being best illustrated in Figs.at and 5 of the drawings.

8 3 represent ears aflixed to the fly-head h. t represents a short shaftor stud journaled in said ears 6 s and having affixed to one end abifurcated piece it. One arm 14' of the piece it is provided with asmall grooved pulley n, and the said piece a is adapted to swing on itspivotstud if, so that said pulley e will enter a recess 1; in the arm i,the pulley being free to rotate in said recess.

t represents a spring, one end of which is attached to the stud if andthe other end of which is connected to the fly-head, the stress of saidspring tending to throw the p ece ll. back to the position shown indotted lines in Fi 4.

Vhen the machine is in operation, the twlne is passed over the pulley oand thence over the pulley at the outer end of the arm L, as shown bythe dotted line to w in 1 1g. 1, and the tension of the twine'issufficient to overcome the stress of the spring t and hold the piece ain the position shown in said figure and in full lines in Fig. 4. Shouldthe twine break, the forward and downward pressure on the pulley v onthe arm a is removed and the spring 25 will immediately move the piece11. to the position shown in dotted 111138 in Flg. 4, thus bringing theother arm a ot said piece into line with the pro ection on an arm at,which is pivoted to the arm n,w1 th which the operating-lever f of thebelt-shipper is engaged with its catch f. It will thus be seen that whenthe arm it",revolving with the fly-head, is brought in line with theprojection 01: it will strike the same, and will move the same and thearm a outwardly, (the end of the arm a" or the end of the projection orbeing beveled to effect this movement,) causing the arm m to disengagethe lever f from the catch f and allowing said lever to be operated byits spring f' to shift the belt and stop the operation of the machine,as already described. 7

It will be seen that the above-described improvement operatesautomatically to stop the machine whenever the twine is broken duringthe winding operation.

I do not limit myself to the exact form of the piece it here shown, asthe same may be variously modified, the essential point of the samebeing that it shall be held in one position by the tension of thespring, and shall be automatically moved to another posltion upon therelease of said tension, in which latter position it shall be adapted toautomatically cause the release of the operatinglever of thebelt-shipper from its catch, and consequently the stoppage of theoperation of the machine.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction andarrangement of parts of my invention without departing from the natureor spirit thereof.

I claim 1. In a twine-balling machine, the combination of adriving-shaft provided with a fast and loose pulley, a belt-shipperwhich in its normal position holds the driving-belt in engagement withthe loose pulley, a lever engaged with said shipper and adapted to'beengaged with a fixed detent and thereby hold the shipper in position tokeep the belt upon the fast pulley, the revolving ball-spindle, a

sliding and rotating shaft driving the ball spindle, a tooth orprojection on said shaft, a ratchet-wheel affixed to the frame of thema- IIO chine, the said tooth being adapted to come into engagement withsaid ratchet-wheel at a certain predetermined part of the slidingmovement of said shaft and being adapted to movesaid wheel the space ofone tooth at each rotation of said shaft, and a pin or projection onsaid gear-wheel which is adapted after a predetermined number of thesaid movements of said wheel by said tooth to cause the release from itsdetent of the operating-lever of the belt-shipper of the machine, saidlever upon such release being automatically operated to shift thedriving-belt from the fast to the loose pulley of the shaft and thusstop the operation of the machine, as set forth.

2. In a twine-balling machine, the combination of a driving-shaftprovided with a fast and a loose pulley, abelt-shipper which in itsnormal position holds the driving-belt in engagement with the loosepulley, a lever e'ngaged with said shipper and adapted to be engagedwith a fixed detent and thereby hold the shipper'in position to keep thebelt upon the fast pulley, a revolving fly-head, a springsupported armon said head having a pulley or guide over which the twine is adapted topass, the tension of said twine holding said arm out of its normalposition against the stress of its spring, said spring being adaptedwhen the tension of the twine is removed to move said arm so that thepath of its revolution will intersect the belt-shipper lever, wherebysaid'arm is caused to disengage said detent and permit the shipper totransfer the driving-belt to the loose pulley, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this 10th day of March, A. D.1891.

J AMES ASPINALL'. Witnesses:

ANDREW J. LATHROP, CHAS. A. FLOYD.

